Pennsylvania judge strikes down voter ID law

A Pennsylvania judge on Friday struck down the state’s voter ID law, which was signed in early 2012 and is one of the strictest in the nation, ruling that the statute “unreasonably burdens the right to vote.”

“Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal,” Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley wrote.

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Pennsylvania’s law requires all voters to bring to the polls identification issued by the state government or the U.S. government, or another valid credential such as a student ID with an expiration date, in order to cast their vote. If a would-be voter does not have an appropriate ID, that person can cast a provisional ballot and the vote will be counted if an adequate ID is brought to the local elections office within six days.

The state’s Republican-led Legislature passed the law in spring 2012, saying it would help prevent voter fraud, and GOP Gov. Tom Corbett signed it shortly thereafter. Pennsylvania’s law was part of a flurry of stricter voter ID legislation passed across the country by GOP-led legislatures in recent years.

A coalition of groups, including the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Advancement Project, filed a challenge to the law that summer, saying it would disproportionately affect groups such as low-income voters, young voters and minorities.

A judge put the law on hold for the 2012 election but said it could go into effect after the election was over. Voting rights groups in the state challenged the law again in early 2013.

The ruling comes just a day after Congress released its revised, bipartisan version of the Voting Rights Act, the law used to combat discriminatory voting practices that was partially struck down by the Supreme Court last summer.

Pennsylvania GOP Chairman Rob Gleason said in a statement Friday that he was “extremely disappointed” by the ruling but that the state party will keep pushing the issue going forward. Corbett general counsel James Schultz said in a statement that the governor’s office will “continue to evaluate the opinion and will shortly determine whether post-trial motions are appropriate.”

The ruling likely will be appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but for now, voting rights groups are savoring the victory.

Penda Hair, co-director of the Advancement Project called the ruling “monumental.”

“Hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania citizens who lack one of the limited forms of acceptable photo ID can now cast their ballots without burdensome obstacles,” she said in a statement.